Silva Joseane R, Sampaio Regiane M A, Nunes Patrícia F, Guimarães Vanessa S, Costa Camila Carla da Silva, Coelho Evelen da Cruz, Souza Micheline Vale de, Almeida Luana Wanessa Cruz, Fuzii Hellen T, Filho Aldemir Branco Oliveira, Martins Luisa C
Laboratory of Clinical Pathology of Tropical Diseases, Federal University of Pará (UFPA), Tropical Medicine Center (NMT), Umarizal, Belem 66055-240, Pará, Brazil.
Center for Biological and Health Sciences, University of the State of Pará (UEPA), Belem 66045-250, Pará, Brazil.
Trop Med Infect Dis. 2025 Jun 13;10(6):166. doi: 10.3390/tropicalmed10060166.
Infections with the Hepatitis B (HBV) and Hepatitis C (HCV) viruses share some transmission routes, which is why coinfection with these viruses becomes common, especially in endemic areas. This study evaluated the immunological response profile, viral load, and liver damage in groups monoinfected with HBV or HCV and in those co-infected with HBV/HCV. The groups were composed of 22 patients monoinfected by HCV, 22 patients monoinfected by HBV, and 34 co-infected by HBV/HCV, according to serological markers and molecular biology tests. The study was carried out from December 2017 to October 2019. Virus detection employed enzyme immunoassay, Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA), and real-time PCR, while liver function and fibrosis were assessed using biochemical tests and Fibroscan. To research the immunological profile, cytokines were quantified using the BIO-Plex Pro Human Cytokine. Comparing the groups, both mono- and co-infected patients exhibited a Th1 immune response profile. HCV monoinfection notably showed significantly elevated serum levels of INF-γ ( < 0.01) and TNF-α ( < 0.01). The viral load was significantly higher in the HCV monoinfected group when compared to the other groups. Regarding liver damage, patients with a high level of fibrosis (F4) presented significant levels of cytokines INF-γ ( < 0.001), IL-17 ( < 0.0001), and TNF-α ( < 0.0001).
乙型肝炎病毒（HBV）和丙型肝炎病毒（HCV）感染具有一些共同的传播途径，这就是这两种病毒合并感染为何常见的原因，尤其是在流行地区。本研究评估了单纯感染HBV或HCV的人群以及合并感染HBV/HCV的人群的免疫反应谱、病毒载量和肝损伤情况。根据血清学标志物和分子生物学检测，这些人群包括22例单纯感染HCV的患者、22例单纯感染HBV的患者以及34例合并感染HBV/HCV的患者。该研究于2017年12月至2019年10月进行。病毒检测采用酶免疫测定法、酶联免疫吸附测定法（ELISA）和实时聚合酶链反应，而肝功能和纤维化则通过生化检测和Fibroscan进行评估。为了研究免疫谱，使用BIO-Plex Pro人类细胞因子对细胞因子进行定量。比较这些组，单纯感染和合并感染的患者均表现出Th1免疫反应谱。单纯感染HCV显著显示血清中INF-γ（<0.01）和TNF-α（<0.01）水平明显升高。与其他组相比，HCV单纯感染组的病毒载量显著更高。关于肝损伤，纤维化程度高（F4）的患者细胞因子INF-γ（<0.001）、IL-17（<0.0001）和TNF-α（<0.0001）水平显著升高。
